1. Distributed Cognition & Collaborative Intelligence is the theory that knowledge and thought processes are not confined to one individual person but rather they are a product of their environment, the tools they use, and the peers with which they interact. This idea describes the effect when a network of people come together/work together and build upon collaborative ideas, and knowledge to achieve results.
  2. Informal Learning is the increasingly prevalent method of teaching through participation and creation rather than the traditional teacher-centered style. This form of learning is spontaneous and does not really follow a strict curriculum or system. Instead it is designed to imitate how we learn in our natural day to day lives (outside of school and work environments).
  3. White space or negative space refers to the portion of a design where the graphic is not. We must be careful not to label this space “blank space” as it is a very important part of design and can, when used properly, emphasize or highlight the design. When used improperly, however, it can take away from the overall strength of the design and draw the viewer’s attention to the white space rather than the graphic itself.
  4. Focal Point is the attention grabber in design. This term describes the point in the design where the viewer’s eye is drawn initially and where it rests when naturally looking at the design or graphic. This is integral when designing a brand as you do not want your viewer’s eye to wander in your graphic. You want their focus to be on your brand be it a name or logo. For example, contrast is often used in design to create a natural focal point (i.e. two different fonts used in your type to draw focus to the contrasting font).
  5. Participatory Gap as it relates to design, refers to what is generally referred to as the digital divide. That is to say that while technology is fascinating and changing daily, not everyone has access to the technology to learn and add their own ‘lexicon’ (eh?) of knowledge to the growth and evolution of design and technology. This is particularly problematic with youth, as not all school systems have the money to have a frequent refresh cycle to stay up to date with technological advancement. Another area of concern is those in rural areas. These people do not often have access to up to date technology be it hardware or software. These two example illustrate why this is referred to as a gap because, quite literally, their is a gap in usage.